Labour Admitting Failure on Education

After 12 and half years can a Government who had as its mantra "Education, education, education" be allowed room for error over those at Primary School level? The answer has got to be no.

Yet this morning the Prime Minister and his School's Secretary are going to announce plans to guarantee extra tuition for primary pupils who fall behind. Considering Ed Balls is also calling for a debate with his opposite numbers does he really want to defend that Labour record and that election pledge after 13 years of Labour Government. Brave man.

So why after 12 and half years of Labour controlling the purse strings for most of the UK on education has our current crop of Primary School children been failed to this extent. In Scotland at least the reduction of class sizes in the early years was something that came in as part of a Lib Dem partnership, even it the SNP haven't managed to take it further there is a thrust in Scottish education to give our children the best start possible. The same is not true of England and possibly to an extent Wales.

The other news today that too many of our children are too slow to learn to talk may go part of the way to explaining it. The development of early vocal ability comes from the family of the child. In our society too many parents of young children don't have the time to sit down and spend time with their children to learn these key early skills. However, our education system should then be capable of picking up on these situations and make amends for them as soon after the child enters their doors as possible. Is that too much to ask?

I don't want to hear Brown and Balls using this other breaking news story on the same day as they will be announcing this education proposal as an excuse to get Labour off the hook for over 12 years of failure, failure, failure on education, education, education. For most of that 12 year period we have been reasonably prosperous as a nation and the funding would have been then to set up such a scheme long ago. I doubt this is a new issue that has suddenly dawned on the Department of Education and Children

Can We Afford this Effrontery?

Apparently the Nat Government has effectively turned down £13bn from Westminster aimed to get PFI projects such as schools and hospitals off the ground when the private sector element is not forthcoming.

It clearly is one problem when there is a recession that private companies clam up in new capital investment if they can and focus on things that currently exist. However, as the SNPs Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) has failed to materialise after 21 months and because of their opposition and cessation to the previous PFI model on which SFT is based. There has yet to be a single SFT .

The Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said:

"The UK-wide temporary fund means PFI projects in Scotland can be considered for support on the same terms as UK departments. The Scottish Futures Trust has yet to procure a single project which might be eligible.

"The Scottish Government needs to stop putting its dogmatic position before Scotland's interests when it comes to PFI. We need to get Scotland building again if we are going to get through the recession and it would make sense for Scottish ministers to reconsider their opposition as soon as possible."

Not a single project! Just what are they playing at? When can we expect something to kick off? Also what does this mean should they gain their wish for Independence will be also see Scotland stall while the lacking infrastructure is uhmed and ahhed about?

Jeremy Purvis the Lib Dem finance spokesperson added:

"This shows very clearly that the SNP has brought to a halt the pipeline of projects vital for Scotland to work through a recession.

"In 2006-7 there were over £1 billion worth of PPP/PFI and NPD contracts awarded in Scotland; now this is down to less than a third of that, with catastrophic timing."

The Nats tried to divert attention by saying the bail-out was "proof positive" that the PFI model was the "economics of the madhouse". Rather ironic use of words at least they was some sort of "house" being build even if the system did need refining, but the do nothingness of SFT really is a madhouse especially with the First Minister himself ranting on about the need to invest money in Scotland to secure Scottish jobs.

The stubbornness of the Nationalist mule to make everything in their own image and cut down things that were in place before a working replacement is in place together with trying to ignore that Scotland is still part of a larger entity is the real economics of the madhouse.